>I do not like configuring appliances. I prefer defining infra as code, having that diffable, assertable, etc.

I hardle ever access Proxmox GUI, everything is fully managed via Ansible playbooks, from deploying the LXC containers to updating them, from taking snapshot to syncing stuff to my TrueNAS is done via batching.

>I did abandon TrueNAS, however. It really is a locked-down appliance. Good luck installing custom software on the base OS

The most common mistake people seem to make when it comes to NAS, TrueNAS is a NAS not a Proxmox server.

I see people running dozens if not hundreds of services on UnRaid, one fart and the whole infrastructure, if I can call it that, goes to sh1t.